Friends of the Earth denies dropping nuclear power opposition Friends of the Earth has denied dropping its opposition to nuclear power after the BBC reported that the green group had made a “huge and controversial shift” in its stance. A news bulletin on Radio 4’s Today programme said that the group had revealed it was no longer opposed to nuclear power in principle, describing as a “significant shift” for the organisation, which has campaigned against nuclear power since it was founded in 1969. Roger Harrabin, the BBC’s environment analyst, reported: “Recently splits have appeared [in the environmental movement’s opposition to nuclear] as some leading independent greens have suggested the world cannot tackle climate change without nuclear power ... “Today a spokesman [for Friends of the Earth] revealed the group’s new stance – it’s no longer against nuclear power in principle although it still opposes new nuclear power stations because they’re too expensive and, intriguingly, take too long to build.” He called it “a huge and controversial shift.” But the green group’s executive director, Andy Atkins, released a statement saying the group had made no changes to its stance on nuclear Atkins said: “Friends of the Earth has not changed its position on nuclear power. We remain firmly opposed to it and continue to strongly promote a transition to an energy system based on energy efficiency and our abundant resource of renewable energy, which is getting cheaper to exploit by the day. “We have always been an evidence-based organisation and we commission independent reports to ensure our policy positions are robust, and we will continue to do so in the future. Craig Bennett, the group’s director of policy and campaigns, and the spokesman whose comments the BBC had based its report on, said the BBC’s news reporting had been “misleading” and asked the broadcaster to make a correction. Bennett had appeared on a package on energy security earlier in the Today programme, and was asked by journalist Justin Rowlatt whether Friends of the Earth was no longer worried about the risk from radiation. Bennett said: “Of course there are real concerns about radiation particularly around nuclear waste and it’s right we are concerned about that. But it’s important the debate has shifted down the years – the real concern now is how we get on fast with decarbonising our electricity supply, if you look at the models, it shows nuclear cannot be delivered fast.” Harrabin defended the BBC’s reporting, writing on Twitter: “Does FoE want existing nukes closed? No. Is its main objection now cost not safety? Yes. You’re not pro-nuke but this is shift.” Tweets from the official Friends of the Earth account responded that there was no shift in position: “Safety including waste still big intractable issue, new evidence on cost makes arguments against even stronger.” Several high profile environmental commentators who were previously opposed to nuclear power, including Guardian columnist George Monbiot and author Mark Lynas, have changed their position in recent years and given their backing to nuclear power as a low carbon source of energy because of the urgency of tackling climate change.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 13:34:27 +0000
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